Policy Highlights
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan appoints Thomas Bailey, the George and Abby O’Neill Professor of Economics and Education at Teachers College, to serve as chair of a new national Committee on Measures of Student Success. The committee will develop recommendations for two-year degree-granting institutions of higher education to comply with the law’s graduation and completion-rate disclosure requirements.
Hosted by TC’s Campaign for Educational Equity, four legal and education specialists assess the impact of the Abbott districts, the specially funded school districts created by the courts in New Jersey’s long-running school finance litigation, which have recently been demobilized. The verdict: some gains were made for poorer students, but the state’s achievement gap remains deeply entrenched.
Amy Stuart Wells, Professor of Sociology and Education, presents the findings of her study, “Boundary Crossing for Diversity, Equity and Achievement: Inter-district School Desegregation and Educational Opportunity,” at a conference in Washington, D.C. The study documents the accomplishments of the nation’s eight remaining inter-districts, which enable students to move across district lines with the specific aim of attending integrated schools. The study finds that students who attended suburban schools through inter-district programs significantly outperformed peers who stayed in city schools.
Another study by Wells documents alarming resource disparities in five different Long Island school districts. A key finding: wealthier districts are able to generate higher levels of public funding and supplement it through private resources from parents, community members and other donors who are connected to the district.
Charles Basch, Richard March Hoe Professor of Health Education, participates in a meeting at the White House, as part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign to prevent childhood obesity. Basch and his colleagues speak to the President’s Task Force on Childhood Obesity, about the extent and causes of childhood obesity.
John Allegrante, Professor of Health Education and TC Deputy Provost, takes students in his Social Policy and Prevention course to Washington, D.C., as part of the 11th Annual National Health Education Advocacy Summit, a two-and-a-half day annual conference to teach advocacy skills to students, faculty and health education professionals.
Published Wednesday, May. 11, 2011